1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of vending machines and, more particularly, to a tandem gate release mechanism that is selectively shiftable from an article retention position to an article dispensing position during a vend operation.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Vending machines for dispensing canned and/or bottled beverages have long been known. Early model vending machines release similarly sized bottles, one at a time, following deposit of the required purchase amount. In order to withdraw the selected bottle from the vending machine, the purchaser was required to, for example, manually remove a beverage container through a release mechanism on a shelf. Over time, manufacturers developed various other mechanisms for releasing products from vending machines. These arrangements range from a more conventional mechanism wherein the products are guided within a chute, often times along a serpentine path, into a delivery port, to more unique mechanisms such as the use of transport systems that shift a product transport carrier to a point adjacent a selected product, receive the selected product and then deliver the selected product to the consumer.
At present, specialty beverages such as sports drinks, flavored teas, fruit juices, milk and the like are growing in popularity. Typically, these beverages are packaged in glass or plastic bottles that are available in many different sized and shaped containers. Given the variety of container sizes, mechanisms for releasing selected products during a vend operation must be capable of accommodating the wide range of containers available to today's consumers. As the number of different sized and shaped containers continues to grow, it becomes increasingly difficult to insure a proper vending operation with standard dispensing systems.
In order to accommodate a broad range of containers, most vending machines employ shims to adjust a width of a product queue. Using appropriate shims, a technician can modify the product queue to accept a wide range of containers. In other vending machines, side walls of the product queue can be shifted in order to set a desired width. Regardless of the method employed, adjusting a width of a product queue to accept different sized containers requires considerable effort and knowledge for proper operation. For instance, a typical product queue is sized to accommodate a small range of products. If a vendor misloads or otherwise places containers in the product queue that are outside the small range, a mis-vend can occur. For example, placing smaller containers in a product queue sized for larger containers can result in multiple vends.
Based on the above there exists a need in the art for a release mechanism that can be used to dispense a wide range of product containers. More specifically, there exists a need for a release mechanism that can, without requiring reconfiguration, readily accommodate a wide range of product containers.